Abstract: We aim to investigate the effect of the escaping ionizing radiation on the
color selection of high redshift galaxies and identify candidate Lyman
continuum (LyC) emitters. The intergalactic medium prescription of Inoue et
al.(2014) and galaxy synthesis models of Bruzual&Charlot (2003) have been used
to properly treat the ultraviolet stellar emission, the stochasticity of the
intergalactic transmission and mean free path in the ionizing regime. Color
tracks are computed by turning on/off the escape fraction of ionizing
radiation. At variance with recent studies, a careful treatment of IGM
transmission leads to no significant effects on the high-redshift broad-band
color selection. The decreasing mean free path of ionizing photons with
increasing redshift further diminishes the contribution of the LyC to
broad-band colors. We also demonstrate that prominent LyC sources can be
selected under suitable conditions by calculating the probability of a null
escaping ionizing radiation. The method is applied to a sample of galaxies
extracted from the GOODS-S field. A known LyC source at z=3.795 is successfully
recovered as a LyC emitter candidate and another convincing candidate at
z=3.212 is reported. A detailed analysis of the two sources (including their
variability and morphology) suggests a possible mixture of stellar and
non-stellar (AGN) contribution in the ultraviolet. Conclusions: Classical
broad-band color selection of 2.5<z<4.5 galaxies does not prevent the inclusion
of LyC emitters in the selected samples. Large fesc in relatively bright
galaxies (L>0.1L*) could be favored by the presence of a faint AGN not easily
detected at any wavelength. A hybrid stellar and non-stellar (AGN) ionizing
emission could coexist in these systems and explain the tensions found among
the UV excess and the stellar population synthesis models reported in
literature.